Neither Barnes nor Marshall has signaled an interest in jumping into the contest, however, and the race doesn’t appear to be high on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s list of 2010 target states.

The poll of 600 likely voters, conducted April 27-29, has an error margin of 4 percent.

— Alex Isenstadt

Gerlach Unknown to Most Pa. Republicans

Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), who is drawing mention as a possible Senate candidate in 2010, would start with one big disadvantage. According to a recent Franklin and Marshall College poll, he is virtually unknown to Republican voters in Pennsylvania.

The fourth-term congressman is seriously considering a primary campaign against former GOP Rep. Pat Toomey, but he has also formed an exploratory committee for the governor’s race.

The survey, conducted April 21-27, shows 77 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans have never heard of Gerlach, though he is viewed favorably by those who have heard of him.

Meanwhile, Toomey sports an outstanding net favorability rating with GOP voters, with 29 percent viewing him favorably and only 5 percent viewing him unfavorably. Toomey’s favorable ratings — and name identification — among Republicans are likely to rise as conservatives begin to recognize him as the candidate who forced Republican Sen. Arlen Specter out of the party.